This is a list of the native wild mammal species recorded in
Mexico. As of September 2014, there were 536 mammalian species or subspecies listed. Based on
IUCN data, Mexico has 23% more noncetacean mammal species than the U.S. and Canada combined in an area only 10% as large, or a species density over 12 times that of its northern neighbors.[n 1] Mexico's high mammal biodiversity is in part a reflection of the wide array of
biomes present over its latitudinal, climatic and altitudinal ranges, from lowland
tropical rainforest to temperate
desert to
montane forest to
alpine tundra. The general increase in terrestrial biodiversity moving towards the equator[1] is another important factor in the comparison. Mexico includes much of the
Mesoamerican and
Madrean pine-oak woodlandsbiodiversity hotspots. From a
biogeographic standpoint, most of Mexico is linked to the rest of North America as part of the
Nearctic realm. However, the lowlands of southern Mexico are linked with
Central America and South America as part of the
Neotropical realm. Extensive mixing of Nearctic and Neotropical mammal species commenced only three million years ago, when the formation of the
Isthmus of Panama ended South America's long period of isolation and precipitated the
Great American Interchange. Twenty of Mexico's extant nonflying species (
opossums,
armadillos,
anteaters,
monkeys and
caviomorph rodents) are of South American origin. Most of the
megafauna that formerly inhabited the region
became extinct at the end of the
Pleistocene about 10,000 years ago, shortly after the arrival of the
first humans. Increasing alteration and destruction of natural habitats by expanding human populations during the last several centuries is causing further attrition of the region's biodiversity, as exemplified by the "
hotspot" designations (by definition, such areas have lost over 70% of their primary vegetation).
The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature; those on the left are used here, those in the second column in some other articles:
The conservation status of the species has not been studied.
Of the listed taxa, 7 are extinct, 1 (not recognized by the IUCN) is possibly extinct, 30 are critically endangered, 46 are endangered, 26 are vulnerable, and 23 are near threatened.[n 2] These status tags were most recently updated in April 2011. Six of the extinct or possibly extinct taxa and 11 of the critically endangered taxa are
insular (all but two of these are rodents); another 13 of the critically endangered species (all rodents or shrews) are
montane. The only critically endangered species that are neither rodents nor shrews are the
Cozumel Island raccoon and the
vaquita. The vaquita population estimate has dropped below 100 as of 2014 and it is regarded as being in imminent danger of extinction.[2][3]
Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the
Western Hemisphere. Opossums probably diverged from the basic South American
marsupials in the late
Cretaceous or early
Paleocene. They are small to medium-sized marsupials, about the size of a large house
cat, with a long snout and
prehensile tail.
Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered. They evolved about 50 million years ago, and their closest living relatives are
elephants. Manatees are the only extant
afrotherians in the Americas. However, a number
proboscid species, some of which survived until the arrival of
Paleo-Indians, once inhabited the region.
Mammoths,
mastodons and
gomphotheres all formerly lived in Mexico.[4][5]
Armadillos are small mammals with a bony armored shell. Two of twenty-one extant species are present in Mexico; the remainder are only found in South America, where they originated. Their much larger relatives, the
pampatheres and
glyptodonts, once lived in North and South America but went extinct following the appearance of humans.
The order Pilosa is extant only in the Americas and includes the
anteaters,
sloths, and
tamanduas. Their ancestral home is South America. Numerous
ground sloths, some of which reached the size of elephants, were once present in both North and South America, as well as
on the Antilles, but all went extinct following the arrival of humans.
Rodents make up the largest order of mammals, with over 40% of mammalian species. They have two
incisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be kept short by gnawing. Most rodents are small, although the
capybara can weigh up to 45 kg (99 lb). According to the
IUCN listing, Mexico has more rodent species (236 as of April 2011) than any other country in the world (Brazil is second with 222). Of Mexico's rodents, 2% are
caviomorphs, 14.5% are
sciurids, 25.5% are
castorimorphs and 58% are
cricetids. This distribution is fairly similar to that of the remainder of North America (although sciurids are relatively twice as abundant to the north, at the expense of cricetids), but is very different from
that of South America, where the corresponding figures are 36%, 3%, 1% and 60%. Of Mexico's cricetids, 17% are
sigmodontine, while the figure for South America is 99.5%.[n 3] Mexico's caviomorphs are recent immigrants from South America, where their ancestors washed ashore after
rafting across the
Atlantic from Africa about 40–45 million years ago.[6][7] Conversely, South America's sciurids, castorimorphs and cricetids are recent immigrants from Central America (with sigmodontines getting a head start on the others).
The lagomorphs comprise two families,
Leporidae (
hares and
rabbits), and Ochotonidae (
pikas). Though they can resemble
rodents, and were classified as a
superfamily in that order until the early 20th century, they have since been considered a separate order. They differ from rodents in a number of physical characteristics, such as having four incisors in the upper jaw rather than two. The
endangered volcano rabbit of the
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is the world's second smallest rabbit. In North America, pikas are not found south of southern
California and northern
New Mexico.
Order:
Eulipotyphla (shrews, hedgehogs, moles, and solenodons)
Eulipotyphlans are insectivorous mammals. Shrews and
solenodons closely resemble mice,
hedgehogs carry spines, while
moles are stout-bodied burrowers. In the Americas, moles are not present south of the northernmost tier of Mexican states, where they are rare.
The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.
There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition. Mexico has more native
mephitids than any other country, with two thirds of extant species being present. Only
Costa Rica and
Panama have more
procyonid species (one more) than Mexico (it is tied with
Colombia in this respect). Large extinct carnivorans that lived in the area prior to the coming of humans include the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis, the scimitar cat Homotherium serum,
American lions,
American cheetahs,
dire wolves and
short-faced bears.
The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and
grazing mammals. They are usually large to very large, and have relatively simple stomachs and a large middle toe.
Tapirids were more widespread before humans appeared, formerly being present in temperate North America as well as the tropical regions they are found in today. Native
equids once lived in the region, having evolved in North America over
a period of 50 million years, but died out around the time of the first arrival of humans, along with at least one ungulate of South American origin, the
notoungulateMixotoxodon. Sequencing of
collagen from a fossil of one recently extinct notoungulate has indicated that this order was closer to the perissodactyls than any extant mammal order.[10]
Order:
Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates and cetaceans)
The even-toed ungulates are
ungulates whose weight is borne about equally by the third and fourth toes, rather than mostly or entirely by the third as in
perissodactyls. There are about 220 noncetacean artiodactyl species, including many that are of great economic importance to humans. All of Mexico's extant ungulates are of
Nearctic origin. Prior to the arrival of humans,
camelids, which evolved in North America, also lived in the region, as did additional antilocaprids (e.g., Capromeryx minor).
The order Cetacea includes
whales,
dolphins and
porpoises. They are the mammals most fully
adapted to aquatic life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater. Their closest extant relatives are the
hippos, which are artiodactyls, from which cetaceans descended; cetaceans are thus also artiodactyls. Lagoons on the coast of
Baja California Sur provide calving grounds for the eastern Pacific population of
gray whales. The
vaquita of the northern
Gulf of California is the world's smallest and
most endangered cetacean.
^ As of 2014-05-10, the IUCN lists 491 noncetacean species for Mexico (area 1,972,550 km2) and 398 for the U.S. plus Canada (area 19,811,345 km2).
^ This list is derived from the
IUCN Red List which lists species of mammals and includes those mammals that have recently been classified as extinct (since 1500 AD). The taxonomy and naming of the individual species is based on those used in existing Wikipedia articles as of 21 May 2007 and supplemented by the common names and taxonomy from the IUCN, Smithsonian Institution, or University of Michigan where no Wikipedia article was available.
^ This is based on the definition of Sigmodontinae that excludes
Neotominae and
Tylomyinae.
^Polaco, O. J.; Arroyo-Cabrales, J.; Corona-M., E.; López-Oliva, J. G. (2001).
"The American Mastodon Mammut americanum in Mexico"(PDF). In Cavarretta, G.; Gioia, P.; Mussi, M.; et al. (eds.). The World of Elephants – Proceedings of the 1st International Congress, Rome October 16–20, 2001. Rome: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. pp. 237–242.
ISBN978-88-8080-025-5.
^Graham, R. W. (2001).
"Late Quaternary Biogeography and Extinction of Proboscideans in North America"(PDF). In Cavarretta, G.; Gioia, P.; Mussi, M.; et al. (eds.). The World of Elephants (La Terra degli Elefanti) - Proceedings of the 1st International Congress (Atti del 1° Congresso Internazionale), Rome October 16–20, 2001. Rome: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. pp. 707–709.
ISBN978-88-8080-025-5.
^IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group. 2016. Boselaphus tragocamelus (errata version published in 2017). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T2893A115064758.
https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T2893A50182076.en. Accessed on 18 April 2023.
^Good, Caroline (2008). Spatial Ecology of the North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) (PhD thesis). Duke University. pp. 35, 47–48.
hdl:10161/588.